1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to a hydrogen generation device and a fuel cell (FC) having the hydrogen generation device, and more particularly, to a hydrogen generation device using a solid fuel and a FC having the hydrogen generation device.
2. Description of Related Art
A fuel cell (FC) is an electricity generation apparatus that directly converts chemical energy into electrical energy. Compared to the conventional electricity generation techniques, the FC offers lower pollution, lower noise, higher energy density, and higher energy conversion efficiency and therefore it is a very promising clean energy source. FCs could be applied in portable electronic products, home electricity generation systems, transportation vehicles, military equipments, the space industry, and small-scale electricity generation systems, etc.
Different FCs have different applications according to the operating principles and operating environments. Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) and direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) are mostly applied to portable power sources. Both PEMFC and DMFC are low temperature FCs using proton exchange membranes for conducting protons. According to the operating principle, oxidation of hydrogen is carried out in the anode catalyst layer to produce hydrogen ions H+ and electrons e− (the operating principle of PEMFC) or water oxidation of methanol is carried out in the anode catalyst layer to produce hydrogen ions H+, carbon dioxide (CO2), and electrons e− (the operating principle of DMFC), wherein the hydrogen ions H+ are conducted by the proton exchange membrane to the cathode, while the electrons e− are first transmitted to the load through an external circuit before they are conducted to the cathode. Herein a redox reaction between the oxygen supplied to the cathode and the hydrogen ions H+ and electrons e− is carried out in the cathode catalyst layer and water is produced. The hydrogen supplied to the anode could be obtained through a solid NaBH4 hydrogen storage technique, wherein water reacts with solid NaBH4 to form hydrogen.
The reaction between solid NaBH4 and water is a one-off reaction, and once the reaction starts, it won't stop until the solid NaBH4 or water completely runs out. Thereby, the problem of how to carry out the reaction in multiple stages has to be resolved.